I frown with the effort of remembering what that particular word means.
“Assiduous, meaning ‘hardworking.’”
“Yes, I know, young man,” I snap, wondering how I got caught in the same trap twice. “I’ve just never been fond of words that are led by an ass.”
His face tightens, as if with the effort of trying to hold something back. “Ah. Then I shall assay not to assault your ears.” He opens the letter from Name Withheld. His eyebrows knit together as he reads, and when he reaches the end, he refolds the letter and taps it against his chin.
“You are not pleased.”
“On the contrary. Your concern for social inequity is admirable. In fact, the recent ordinance has led us to reconsider your article ‘The Custom-ary.’”
“Oh?”
He rubs a hand over his cheeks, as if unaccustomed to its smoothness. “TheFocushas always erred on the side of restraint. But the moment that means siding with injustice, then we have lostourfocus. You and I will never know how it feels to be judged by our race, yet we both feel a moral urge...”
I am hardly listening as the warm ball in my stomach begins to cool. At least now I know the bottom half of my face doesn’t give me away as Chinese. I release my knees and elbows from their locked positions, suddenly longing for the basement, which, though lonely, beats the loneliness I feel here.
“... a method of subversion,” Nathan is saying. “We would be foolish not to use it.”
“Speak plainly, young man. Do you want to print ‘The Custom-ary’ or not?”
“Yes. I imagine you’ll get plenty of responses. Personally,I’d like to rethink the custom of fruitcake. All those nuts and fruits jumbled together gets confusing. What do you think?” A smile dances around his face.
I squeeze my feelings into something very small, like a walnut, and chuck it behind me for some other silly squirrel to find. There are lines that others draw for us, and ones we should draw for ourselves, knowing only disappointment lies on the other side. Interracial marriage is forbidden. Old Gin knew an uncle who took a colored wife, but they moved to a remote community outside of Atlanta, farther from society’s relentless gaze. And anyway, haven’t I already decided this spider can spin her own silk?
Stuffing my hands deep into my pockets—Shang’s pockets—I begin to turn away. But somewhere in my imagination, doorbells clatter. A chill lifts the hairs of my neck.We don’t get a lot of coolies here. Yet the ones that come always end up scratching at my door.If Shang is my father, that would explain why Billy Riggs is putting the squeeze on Old Gin.If anyone can help that old horseman, it’s you,Billy’s voice rasps in my ear.
A fire roars within me. If he is bullying an old man, Miss Sweetie has a thing or two to say about that. “What do you know of Billy Riggs?”
Twenty-Three
Nathan’s face empties of humor. “If you believe theConstitution, Billy is a fixer, someone who helps others out of a pickle.”
“I take it you disagree?”
He snorts. “What they don’t mention is that Billy Riggs is often the one putting them in the barrel. He buys and trades information. He’s an opportunistic night crawler, digesting dirt so as to transform it into dirt of a richer nature.”
Billy’s mean coppery eyes flash before me. “Is he trustworthy in the business sense?”
“As trustworthy as blackmailers come. Why do you ask?”
“I need information that only Mr. Riggs can provide. I have met him and know he is as unsavory as bear-grease pomade. What I need to know is, will I be wasting my time if I attempt to deal with him?”
He scowls and tucks his fists under his arms. All the brightness has left his eyes. “Why would you win a hand to lose the deck?”
“I don’t intend to lose the deck. All I require is the barest information.”
“It is a slippery slope. He is clever.”
“I am clever, too. Where can I find him?”
An exasperated breath gusts out of him, loosening his spine. “My mother would have my head if I sent you into a lion’s den.”
“No matter, then. I will find out another way. I simply ask for expediency.”
He crosses his arms, jaw set in a way that suggests an answer will not be forthcoming.
“Well, then, good night.”
